PARIS
(AP)  Gustavo Kuerten will rest his sore groin and skip Wimbledon, a tournament
not suited to his game, which is most suited for clay. ''Definitely, I need the
break,'' Kuerten said Friday. He confirmed Sunday he will miss the year's third
Grand Slam tournament. Wimbledon starts June 25, perhaps too soon after the French
Open for the top-ranked Brazilian to adjust to grass courts. ''To play in Wimbledon,
maybe, is going to be too much,'' Kuerten said after winning his French Open semifinal
against Juan Carlos Ferrero. After winning last year in Paris, Kuerten went to
Wimbledon and lost in the third round while playing with a head cold. He made
the quarterfinals in 1999.

"Last
year, I played Wimbledon, I got sick. It was not a good experience," he said.

In April, Kuerten said he might boycott Wimbledon to
protest the way players are seeded. Wimbledon allocates seedings based on a player's
ability on grass, while the three other Grand Slams follow ATP rankings.

Tournament
officials will announce next week on how the seeding system will be arranged.

Spaniards
Alex Corretja and Ferrero, who have also threatened a boycott, plan to wait for
the announcement before deciding on Wimbledon.

Art
lovers: Ever since Gustavo Kuerten engraved a heart into center court last
week, players at the French Open have not stopped talking about artwork.

The
giant heart  etched in clay with Kuerten's tennis racket  displayed
the emotion the two-time French Open champion felt after winning a grueling fourth-round
match against Michael Russell.

In the quarterfinals,
when Kuerten beat No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the Russian said his opponent had
worked the court like an artist treated a canvas.

"You
give him freedom, he's like Picasso," Kafelnikov said.

On
Friday, after Kuerten advanced to the final, he said he was trying to live up
to the comparison.

"I tried to believe in what Kafelnikov
said, that I'm Picasso in the court," Kuerten said, smiling.

He
added that he felt a certain gratitude toward Russell, who came close to ending
Kuerten's quest for a third French title. Russell reached match point in the third
set before Kuerten staged his comeback.

"I think he
deserves a real Van Gogh, or anything, from me as a present," Kuerten said.

Crystal
ball: It was early in the French Open when Jennifer Capriati set her sights
on Kim Clijsters.

Within the first four days of the
two-week tournament several stars  Venus Williams, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario,
Amelie Mauresmo  had already lost. There was talk the women's draw had fallen
apart.